Hollow Gods
by BrokenMask
Summary: Summary and pairings inside. First story, so try not to strangle me to much, will you? Warnings: yaoi; future lemons; yuri; kinda AU; takes place after the Seireitei Invasion Arc; one OC; may be OOC... That's pretty much it. Oh, rating will change from T to M later...
1. Summary

Mask: This is just the summary and pairings, 'kay?

Grimmojow: *Reads over shoulder* Hey, what does that one mean? *Points*

Mask: *Whispers in ear*

Grimmjow: *Silently walks away* Don't expect me back for a while. I have to check myself into the mental hospital you made next door for anime characters you drive insane. For the third time.

Mask: *Waves* Bye-bi Grimmy! Have a good trip!

* * *

Ichigo is suddenly seperated from his hollow, who ends up in the Soul Society. Chaos ensures. Ichi is called in to take the hollow, Hichigo Shirosaki, back. The Vizards are introduced to train Ichi and Hichi, some people get laid. Some people get some pretty awesome powers. Aizen kidnaps Hichi, there's an unexpected alliance switch, and Aizen dies. Gin is revealed to have actually been a Soul Reaper ally.

That is the basic outline for the plot, for this story. A sequel is planned.

Pairings (I made-up the names for them!) (seme/uke):

Mirrorshipping (Ichigo/ Hichigo)

69shipping (Kensei/Shuuhei)

Despairshipping (Gin/Kira)

64shipping (Grimmjow/Ulquiorra *Reason why Grimmy left*)

IceBlossomshipping (Byakuya/Toshiro)

Chad/Uryuu

Oppositeshipping (Renji/OC)

Dualshipping (Shunsui/Ukitake)

Exileshipping (Shinji/Kisuke)

Princess-shipping (Tatsuki/Orihime)

Perfectshipping (Ikkaku/Yumichika)

Wolfshipping (OC/Starrk)

Secretshipping (Iba/Rangiku)

Loyalshipping (Nnoitra/Tesla)

Hallibel/Apache

Mila Rose/ Sun Sun


	2. How it Started

Mask: Well, I hope you enjoy reading this.

Ichigo: *Starts reading plot layout* Hey, wait a minute. This is...!

Mask: *Opens door to let in Hichigo* Keep the strawberry quiet, will ya?

Hichigo: *Grins evilly* Sure.

Ichigo: *Jumps out open window*

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

**_For any damn retard/ bitch out there that REVIEWED to tell me that I couldn't post JUST a summary and the pairings *Smiles evilly* then go and fuck yourself. I know that, and Hollow Gods is posted under IN-FRICKIN-PROGRESS FOR A REASON! That is all. *Bows*_**

* * *

The day it started was just an average day, for Ichigo. Run around, kill a few hollows, get in a fight, yell at his dad for being weird, and screw with the neighborhood gangs.

Yeah. Normal. Right.

The Substitute Shinigami had just come back from saving his friend, Rukia, from the Soul Society. Along with Orihime, Chad, Uryuu, and Yoruichi, Ichigo had broken into the Seireitei to save Rukia.

Rukia had change Ichigo's life. Rukia was a Soul Reaper, whose duty was to destroy hollows. A hollow attempted to kill Ichigo and his family, but Rukia had managed to save everyone by giving her powers to Ichigo. However, transferring powers into a human was illegal, and, two months later, Rukia was arrested by her older brother and a childhood friend.

Ichigo tried to stop them from arresting her, and his Shinigami powers were sealed in the process. Urahara, an ex-Shiningami captain, saved him, and then trained the strawberry. Ichigo recovered his powers and learned a few fighting techniques on the way.

Orihime and Chad were two of Ichigo's friends. They are humans with unusual abilities, and wanted to help the orange-haired teenager save Rukia. Uryuu was a Quincy, a special breed of human that despised Soul Reapers, who somehow managed to become friends with Ichigo. Uryuu had lost his Quincy powers during his fight with Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the captain of the Twelfth Division.

Last but not least, Yoruichi, Urahara's cousin. Yoruichi origanally appeared to be a black cat, and her voice fooled everyone into believing that she was actually a he. Yoruichi was once the captain of the Second Division, and she helped Ichigo acheive bankai. Towards the end of the Seireitei invasion, Yoruichi battled the new Second Division Captain, Soi-Fon.

But enough reminiscing. As previously stated, Ichigo's abnormally normal day took a strange turn. It all started when...

* * *

"Damn!" Ichigo growled, finally managing to collapse onto his bed. "Why can't I catch a break anymore?!" The exahausted Shinigami had been killing hollows practically nonstop, which was enough to even make someone of Ichigo's power tired. That, along with school, studying, training, and his unbelievably insane father, caused the strawberry to become extremely cranky, sleep-deprived, and just plain pissed.

**"NO!" **Ichigo jumped at the sudden noise. Looking around in an attempt to find whoever yelled, Ichigo decided that his lack of sleep and decline into insanity was just making him hear things. So, the orange-haired teen simply settled back into a comfortable position, and resumed his quest for sleep.

**"What are you doing?! Stop!" **

_That was definately _not _my imagination, _Ichigo thought as he tried to figure out what was happening. _What the hell is going on? _

The strawberry was given no time to ponder the situation further, because then, out of nowhere, an intense, painful, burning sensation spread throughout his body. A strangled, slightly muffled cry broke past Ichigo's lips. The pain caused Ichigo to pass out. Stress had already been wearing down on the Shinigami's body, and that burst of pain was to much to bear.

It wasn't until Ichigo woke up, much later, for school, that the strawberry noticed a hollow feeling in his body. The random pain from the night before had left Ichigo's memory, and he wouldn't figure out what the hollow sensation in his body meant for a few days.

And, by then, it might be too late...


	3. In The Soul Society

Mask: Wow, second chapter. I wrote this so quick thanks to all of the review, faves, and follows! *Loves all who did that stuff* Review some more, pretty please!

Ichigo: *Opens door* You're still typing this?!

Hichigo: *Asks like a small child* Hey Ichi, what does sex mean? Mask had it written on his plot outline.

Mask: *Runs off with his beautiful, document-containing, precious laptop*

Ichigo: *Blushes and goes to kill Mask*

Hichigo: *Confused as to why everyone left without answering his question* Is it because of something I said? Oh well.

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

"Oi. Renji." A monotone voice calls. The mentioned red-head turns towards the open screen door, as does the other lieutenants. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads had once more settled into their old habits after the ryoka invasion a few weeks prior. However, a vice-captain's meeting was seldom ever interrupted by anything other than the thirteen Shinigami's own arguing.

All the fukutaichos watched as a short, green-haired, expressionless male walked into view. Renji groaned loudly at the sight of him. Emeral Masque (Emeral is pronounced like 'emerald', without the 'd'; masque is pronounced like 'mask') was the new third seat of the Sixth Division, and, although they had only been working together for a few days, Renji was beyond sick of the green-headed boy.

"What do ya want now?!" Renji snarled. Emeral kept a blank face and simply stared at evryone in the room for a few minutes.

Emeral, despite his odd, emotionless facade, wasn't one of those people you'd peg as 'strong'. He was around five ft. five in., with practically no muscules. His forest green hair had spikes going in any diection they pleased on the top of his head, and the tips of the spikes were a very dark green. The rest of his wild locks clung desperately to the left half of his face, or the spikey hair rested on his shoulders. A strip the same color as the tips of the spikes on top of his head ran a circle around Emeral's head.

Emeral's one visible eye was a bright emerald color. His skin was a peach color, and, instead of the regular black-and-white uniform, Emeral wore one that had no sleeves and replaced the white with red, and the teen-like Shinigami also added a silver choker, which was studded with emeralds. Emeral's zanpakuto's name was Hakai Hoseki (Destroying Gem). The sheath for it was a pale blue, while the grip was a pale wistria. The guard was red and looked like a flower, and the blade itself was normal in it's unreleased state. Renji had yet to see the zanpakuto's shikai.

However, Renji had heard a few stories. Emeral had apparently graduated from the Academy around fifty years ago, and was 2nd in his class. The top student, who was suppose to have been the new third seat, died in mission. He had been one of the two Soul Reapers eaten by the Shrieker, before Ichigo Kurosaki killed the aforementioned hollow.

Renji wished that Emeral had been the one eaten by that hollow. Emeral was always nagging the red-head about paper work. If not that, the green-eyed boy would ask Renji to do ridiculous tasks at obscene moments. Take now, for example.

"Could you kill a bug that's in my room?" Emeral finally asked.

"WHAT?!" Omeda screamed, "YOU'RE INTERRUPTING US BECAUSE OF A BUG?!" Emeral slowly turned his head in the large man's direction. Omeda, upon seeing that completely emotionless eye stare him down, gulped in fear.

"I. Don't. Like. Bugs." Emeral said slowly, puncuating each word, "I. Need. To. Get. Into. My. Room. And. Do. Something. Got. It?" Emeral returned his gaze to Renji, who sighed.

"Okay, just wait outside. We have to finish this meeting first." Emeral hesitated a moment before nodding in agreement.

* * *

In another hour, Renji walked out to find Emeral crouched down, hugging his knees, with his head bowed. Renji felt a twinge of guilt for making the younger Shiningami wait so long. Emeral slowly looked up, as if just noticing his vice-captain's prescence.

"Are you done?" Emeral asked in a voice barely above a whisper. Renji frowned. Emeral, despite not showing emotion, always spoke in a loud voice. The pineapple mentally shrugged it off, deciding that the phenomenon was unimportant.

"Sure, lead the way." Renji told the younger officer.

"...'Kay." Emeral said, still speaking very quietly. Before Renji had time to ponder what could be wrong with the third seat, the aforementioned boy had stood up, grabbed the pineapple's hand, and had proceeded to drag the poor fruit through the streets of the Seireitei.


	4. What Comes From Killing A Bug

Mask: ... I did not expect to actually make it to three chapters... Tell me how you like Emeral, please!

Grimmjow: *Kicks down door* I'm back bitches!

Mask: Ah! Nice timing, Ichi and Hichi are gone *Smiles, remembering the date he forced the two on* and Ulqui's coming over!

Grimmjow: *Turns pale; glances at door*

Mask: *Is happy that he sealed off all possible escape routes*

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

"This is it?" Renji asked, eyeing the seemingly normal, Sixth Division-issued barrack.

"Yeah." Emeral replied, opening the door and walking inside his living quarters. He turned a corner, and Renji hesitantly closed the front door before following the third seat. Rounding the same corner that Emeral had just moments ago, Renji noticed the green-haired man in the fetal position, just outside a door that had been painted black. Renji quirked an eyebrow at the peculiar sight.

"It's in there." A muffled voice told the red-head vice-captain as a slightly shaking hand pointed at the black door. The pineapple wondered how one bug could turn the green-haired boy into... Renji wasn't quite sure how to describe it. The young (for Shinigami) male never showed emotion, until now, that is. The pineapple guessed that Emeral was now at the equivalent of a panic attack.

Renji willed the thoughts out of his mind, and turned the knob to open the black door. What Renji saw was... suprising. Renji had been expecting things like black... everything, maybe some torture devices, and a few blood stains.

Instead, Renji was greeted with the sight of a white, tiled floor, crimson red walls, a queen-sized, western-style bed stationed against the center of the opposite wall, a black, plush rug extending a foot from the bed on the three sides that weren't pushed up against the wall, and wooden black dresser positioned next to the bed.

Renji also noticed a navy blue door with white trim near the dresser, which he assumed lead to a bathroom. All in all, the place did not seem to be very evil, bloodthristy, or psycotic-ish. The pineapple glance over his shoulder.

"Are you sure that this is your room?" Emeral, in a very slow, scary, evil, and pain-promising way, lifted his head to give the red-head a blank look.

"Yes. The bug is located on the wall near my dresser. Kill it and leave. Now." Although the words were spoken in a calm and quiet way, Renji was still frightened. _Damn, this kid gives me the creeps._ Renji said to himself.

The pineapple decided to get his 'mission' over with. Walking into the seemingly-harmless space in front of him, Renji acquired a position next to Emeral's dresser. What he saw almost (if not for the threat of Emeral's wrath, he would have) laughed. The bug Renji had been asked to kill was nothing more than a tiny moth.

The pineapple stuck out his pointer finger, and the moth flew onto it. Renji, noticing a window a few feet away, went and opened the it. The moth, sensing its freedom, spread its wings and flew into the sky. Turning back to his subordinate, Renji realized that the third seat was still in the fetal postion.

"Hey, the bug's, ah, gone now. I guess that I'll, um, get going now." The pineapple stepped out of Emeral's room, and was about to make his way back to the Sixth Division's office to finish some paperwork, when a small hand latched onto his wrist. Renji turned around, and noticed that Emeral was the one who grabbed him.

"Uh, is there something you?..." Renji wasn't able to finish his sentence. A pair of small yet soft lips met his own. Just as quickly as it started, the kiss ended. The pineapple snapped out of his stupor when he heard a door slam shut.

_What the hell was that?_

* * *

_Why did I just do that? _Emeral asked himself. Deciding to simply forget about the incident for now. He headed over to his dresser and stripped off his Shinigami robes. He replaced his usual attire with a floor-length light green kimono, which was patterned with pale blue feathers. The sleeve's only reached his elbows, so Emeral decided to pull on shoulder-length, fingerless white gloves. Strapping his precious zanpakuto to his back, Emeral pondered on whether or not to remove his choker. Deciding to leave it on, the teen-like Death God climbed out of his window and started towards the Rukongai, where he would meet some of his fellow Shinigami for some drinks.

He only hoped that they wouldn't get thrown out of the bar again. Like with the last twelve times.


	5. When Going Out Drinking

Mask: *Is kinda depressed* Why?! Why aren't there more reviews?!

Ulquiorra: Because it isn't interesting enough to review.

Grimmjow: *Sulks in corner trying not to jump Ulqui while Ulqui is drinking the tea Mask made*

Ulquiorra: *Is oblivious to the sexual tension in the air*

Mask: *Wonders when he should let Grimm-kitty play with his Ulqui-bat*

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

"Ooooohhhhh! Emeral, over here!" Rangiku yelled, seeing her fellow Soul Reaper walk through the door of the bar. With her were two other fukutaichos, Izuru Kira of the Third Division, and Shuuhei Hisagi of the Ninth Division. Emeral walked over to his soon-to-be-drunk friends and quickly took in their appearances.

Rangiku was, as always, wearing something that didn't leave much to the imagination. Her bright pink kimono hung low around the chest area, and was barely able to be considered mid-thigh length. The strawberry-blonde's light green obi was tied loosely, and, if all her drinking buddies weren't overprotective (in a concerned brother way), she would definately be walking away from the bar with someone she probably wouldn't even know. To finish off her... outfit was a white scarf tied around her neck in a bow. Her kimono was patterned with pale yellow stars.

Kira, as he prefered to be called, as wearing an attire on the 'other end' of the spectrum. This consisted of a silvery-gray kosode and hakama, which had a large, gold marigold imprinted on the kosode's left sleeve. Emeral also noticed a thin silver chain hanging around his blonde friend's neck, but the greenette was unable to see if the chain was actually a necklace, because, whatever might have been there was hidden by Kira's kosode.

Shuuhei wore something that was more open than Izuru's choice of attire, but his outfit was still a far cry from Rangiku's... Emeral began to wonder if what his friend wore could even be considered clothing. What the black-haired lieutenant had chosen to wear include the ever-present armbands and choker, a sleeveless black kosode, which had the image of a white poppy sewn on over Shuuhei's left hip, and an ash-gray hakama. Emeral then realized that all three had there zanpakutos with them.

Emeral mentally frowned, wondering where the fifth member of their drinking group was. The third seat choose to ignore the last member's missing prescence. Instead, the greenette made his way to where the three vice-captains were sitting. Upon reaching them, Emeral asked, "Hey, where's Yumichika?"

Shuuhei scowl deepened slightly, and answered his shorter friend's question with, "The friggin' vain bastard wimped out on us. Said somin' bout' having to keep Ikkaku from doing something stupid while the bald idiot got drunk. I don't see why Yumi can't just drag the guy over here." Shuuhei then proceeded to down another glass of sake.

Emeral, knowing that Shuuhei was pushed into this state due to alcohol, said nothing more on the topic. Instead, he let his emotionless mask fall away, if only slightly, and called to the bartender for some red wine.

"Awwww, did something happen today, Emy-chan? You only drink red wine when you're upset 'bout something." Rangiku asked, pouting slightly. Emeral sighed, knowing that the only woman in their group was to preceptive on his habits for him to lie.

The unlikely five had become friends under a few unusual circumstances. It started when Emeral was transferred from eighth seat in Squad Eleven to third seat in Squad Six. The greenette had been friends with Yumichika before transferring, so the two had agreed to go out to a bar and celebrate Emeral's promotion.

The bar that the duo went to happened to be the one that Rangiku, Izuru, and Shuuhei visited that same night. Mass chaos broke out between a drunk Shuuhei and Yumichika, since the two had been rather... resentful of the opposite's prescence ever since the Ryoka Invasion. Izuru manage to restrain the angry Soul Reapers with Kido, while Rangiku and Emeral played poker.

After the busty strawberry-blonde and emo-like greenette had been scolded by Kira for 'just sitting there, not helping me stop those two, blah, blah, destroying the bar, blah, blah..', the three not-Kido-restrained Shinigami ended up bonding over more alcohol and some poker (which Emeral always won at, having the ultimate poker face and all).

The two still-Kido-bound Death Gods came to a begrudging truce, and were finally freed. Afterwards, the two found out that they had more in common than they origanally thought, and also became friends. Ever since then, the dysfunctional group went to the same bar together whenever possible, as a new ritual.

Snapping out of the past, Emeral finally answered Rangiku's question. "Well, I may have... Kinda... I kissed Renji." The last part was said so fast that the fickle woman almost didn't hear it.

"Well! What happened after that?!" Rangiku exclaimed, overflowing with bubbly-ness after blinking a few times in shock.

"I ran and hid in my room."

"WHAT?!" The busty fukutaicho exclaimed.

"Could you be quiet? My head's pounding. 'Sides, I don't wanna hear about your drama love story." Shuuhei groaned. Emeral knew that the blackette was always weak against sake, and almost immediately got a hangover after he stopped drinking for more than a minute, but the greenette let his emotions overflow anyway.

"Shut it. Atleast I'M not in love with a dead guy I only met once." Emeral hissed. Shuuhei glared at his friend.

"What the hell do you know? You probably don't even know what love actually is, emo!"

"Oh, guys, let's not..." Rangiku was interuppted by Emeral.

"Could you be quiet?! You don't have any right to speak either, you're friends with the guy you love, you've known him for years, and you still don't have the guts to tell him!" Emeral growled. The strawberry-blonde opened her mouth to retort, as did Shuuhei, and Emeral was about to continue his rant. They were, however, all interuppted by Kira.

"ALL OF YOU, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kira exclaimed. The three previously arguing companions started in shock at their normally quiet blonde friend. It was then that they noticed the pain in Izuru's eyes, and all three felt guiltly.

Izuru Kira was once Ichimaru Gin's lover, a fact only those in the group (and Gin) were aware of. Kira was struck rather hard by his lover's betrayal, and was still only just recovering. None of themm had a right to complain about their problems with love while Kira was around. However, before the three could apologize, a scream ripped could clearly be heard not to far from their place at the bar.

"HOLLOW!"

* * *

Can you guess who the hollow is?

Toshiro: It's not that hard to.

Mask: *Is suprised* When did you get here? Better yet, why are you here?

Toshiro: *Is embarrassed* I'm hiding from a horny Byakuya.

Mask: *Understands now* Okay.


	6. Whilst Fighting An Albino

Mask: *Is happy* Five chapters, and I'm already introducing Hichi?! IT'S A FRIGGIN' MIRACLE (or a sign of the impending apocalypse)!

Toshiro: *Still hiding from Byakuya* Shouldn't you get typing now?

Mask: *Agrees with 'Shiro-chan, but doesn't want to admit it*

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

The nameless hollow was very confused. One minute, he was in King's nice, calm, sideways Inner World, and then he remembered seeing someone's silhouette (the hollow was vaguely sure that the form was a woman), and now he's randomly surrounded by a whole bunch of stupid, screaming souls.

_Is this part of King's Inner World? _The albino male asked himself. The nameless teen practically instantly dismissed the possibility. His King's soul was to... mellow to harbour random, loud, shrieking spirits, despite how the nameless teen's orange-haired Master acted.

Just then, not a second to soon, the albino noticed a black-haired male sprinting towards him. In the tattooed guy's hand was a katana, which the hollow assumed was actually a zanpakuto in it's unreleased state. The presumed-Shinigami looked ready for a fight, and the bleached-out teen would be damned if he couldn't give this opponent a real nice brawl.

The albino's gold-on-black eyes widened marginally, as the hollow couldn't help but feel intense, raw adrenaline flowing through his veins. How long had it been since his last real fight? The hollow didn't even know. But, the teen did know that his hands had been itching to hold the zanpakuto on his back for months, atleast, by now. Or, he assumed that it had been months. Time, after all, passes by rather slowly when one's only company is some old dude with fuckin' creepy sunglasses on. Especially when the old guy pretends that you don't exist.

Grabbing the handle of a large, fang-like sword on his back (_Was that there since the beginning? _The teen pondered for a mere millisecond), the hollow gave off his signature grin. _Show time! _

It was then that the hollow noticed a couple of differences in the zanpakuto he currently held in his had and the sword he normally walked around in his King's soul with.

1) The colors were off. The normally black clothe wrapping around the handle was, instead, a deep sapphire blue. The cutting edge of the blade itself, which was also normally black, was the same color as the new binding around the handle.

2) The zanpakuto was just a tad more slender than regular, and it was also marginally longer and lighter (the balance had always been off before, to the hollow, but the improvements of the sword had made the balance perfect).

3) The teen couldn't feel Zangetsu's power or spirit flowing from the zanpakuto. Instead, a new, yet somehow familiar, energy was being pored into the hollow through his grip on the zanpakuto, straight into the hollow's soul.

Still, the albino paid the variations little heed. Instead, he turned his focus to the impending battle at hand. He started to lazily swing the zanpakuto by the clothe hanging from the handle.

* * *

Emeral was having a mid-live crisis (does being, like, 211 count as being a 'mid-life' crisis?).

His red wine had just arrived. His beautiful, precious, perfect wine that he only let himself indulge in when the greenette was truly upset.

There was a hollow to fight. A strong one, according to the energy it was radiating.

Should he stay, and leave the fightning to the others, or leave the tempation to go aid his companions in battle?

In a split-second descion, Emeral hid the long-necked bottle in his robes and ran out of bar, zanpakuto in tow, to go help in the fighting.

Without paying first, of course.

* * *

As Shuuhei recklessly launched himself at the hollow, he realized several things that could be of great importance later.

1) The hollow looked like that ryoka leader from before (_What's his name? Ichigo Kurosaki, right?_ Shuuhei confirmed for himself) Ichigo.

2) The ryoka look-alike didn't, despite obviously being a hollow, have a bone-like mask.

3) The albino hollow had atleast the same amount of spirit energy as Ichigo, which worried Shuuhei, since the strawberry had beaten several captains.

4) Only Kira and (suprisingly) Rangiku were following his lead in attacking the hollow (who, the black-haired fukutaicho noticed, was starting to spin his sword around like a flail).

_Damnit Emeral! What the hell is he doing at a time like this?! Why are we even friends?! I swear, if he's just getting drunk, then I'm so gonna kill him after this! _Shuuhei growled to himself.

* * *

The black-haired guy was almost within the hollow's striking distance now. Just as the white-haired teen was about to let his sword go flying at his opponent, he felt a shock run through his system, sapping him of his power insantaneously.

_What the hell is happening?! _Was the hollow's last thought before he passed out. Just as he felt his conscious start to fade, he looked up with glazed-over eyes and saw three - no, four - Shinigami come to a halt in front of the poor teen.

The nameless creature passed out with a bitter smile on his lips, knowing through instinct that he could very well be killed in his sleep by these Soul Reapers.


	7. If Discovering One's Inner World

Grimmjow: *Opens door* Is Ulqui here?

Mask: Nope. Not yet.

Grimmjow: *Relieved*

Ulquiorra: *Gets out of a previously shut closet* Why did you shove me in there?

Grimmjow: *Angry at Mask*

Mask: I was talking to myself! *Yes, Ulqui is here! Will I tell Grimmy?* 'Nope. Not yet'

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

"What did you just say?!" The Captain Commander demanded of the three kneeling lieutenants positioned in front of him. It was Kira whom replied.

"Sir, us three, along with the third seat of Squad Six, Emeral Masque, had been in the Rukon Districts when we heard someone yell 'hollow'. We were about to fight it when the hollow collapsed, for reasons that we don't know as of yet. After reviewing the circumstances, we decided that the best course of action would be to take the hollow back with us."

"Why would you bring a hollow into the Seireitei?!" The Head Captain exclaimed, obviously upset with the lieutenants.

"Sir," Shuuhei was the one who spoke up this time, "I beg you pardon, but if you would, perhaps, actually see the hollow, then you may have a better understanding of our reasoning for the course of action we took." Head Captain Yamamoto seemed to consider this statement, and then relented to the Ninth's fukutaicho idea.

"Very well! Bring it in!"

"Hai!" The vice-captains said in response. Emeral, who had been waiting just outside the large double-doors with the bound, and still unconcious, albino, took that as his que to enter the vast meeting room. Dragging the limp body of the nameless teen behind him, Emeral corrected the termology that the four other Shinigami in the room had been using for the hollow.

"He's not an it, he's a he. And his name is Hichigo Shirosaki." Emeral's friends glared at him, since he was clearly ignoring their warnings to remain silent unless spoken to. Genryusai Yamamoto, on the other hand, cocked an eyebrow in question.

"Oh? And how would you know this?" It was then that the three fukutaichos noticed that Emeral was purposely hiding as much of the hollow's form as possible, so the Head Captain couldn't tell how Emeral knew those facts.

"Once you see him, you'll know." And, without further ado, the greenette stepped away from the now-with-a name albino. Captain Yamamoto was... suprised, to say the least, at what he saw.

A carbon copy of Ichigo Kurosaki was splayed out before his eyes. _No, _Yamamoto realized, _its, he's, not the _exact _same as that ryoka. _

Indeed, Hichigo wasn't quite the same as his colored counterpart. The albino was noticeably shorter, though not by much. Also, Hichigo's hair just barely brushed against his shoulders, much unlike Ichigo's rather short hair. Any other differences, besides, of course, the fact that Hichigo was an albino, were by the opositely-colored Shinigami uniform.

"I can see that this is a male, but how do you know his name?" That was the only thing that Old Man Yama couldn't figure out.

"He woke up once, for about a minute. I asked him for his name, and he said that he didn't have one. Before that, we had been calling him 'Hollow Ichigo', since those three realized that Hichi looked like Ichigo Kurosaki. I put 'Hollow' and 'Ichigo' together and got 'Hichigo'. And since 'Shiro' is the opposite of 'Kuro, I made his last name be Shirosaki." Emeral explained.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hichigo suddenly started to scream, writhering on the wooden floor. Emeral, the one closest to him, could tell that the albino was still unconcious. Still shrieking, Hichigo began to unleash large amounts of reiatsu in overwhelming waves. Everyone in the Seireitei, even the Sotaicho, gave atleast a grunt at the intense feeling.

* * *

(MEANWHILE)

The hollow sat up, rubbing his pounding head, and groaned, "F~uck. What the hell is up with my head?" The albino couldn't help but whine. Hichigo jumped when he heard a quiet, smooth, and calming voice speak.

"At last, you are awake." The distincively female speaker whispered, and, to Hichi, it was as if the practically unnoticable wind was talking.

The hollow looked around, attemping to figure out just who was talking. It was then that the teen noticed his peculiar surroundings.

What the albino was sitting on (floating on?) was the night sky, which was missing a moon. Overhead was a oversized, upside-down rainforest, and Hichi realized that the moon missing from the sky was actually being held in the clutches of the overhead forest. Hichigo stared in awe at the beauty of the full moon.

"What are you looking up there for?" The voice continued, "I'm over here." Hichigo whipped around, and came face to face with... something he really didn't expect.

The person - woman - was... odd-looking. She was the same height as the albino, give or take an inch or two, and had a dark tan skin-color. Her eyes, hair, and clothes were pure white. The woman's attire consisted of a white, hooded cape dangling from her shoulders. A white furisode reached the starger's knees, and a white hakuma covered the rest of her legs. The woman was barefooted, and had a red, cloth belt hanging loosely from her hips. A replica of Hichigo's sword rested on her shoulders.

All the confused hollow could manage to say was, "Who the fuckin' hell are you?"

A bell-like laughter surrounded the hollow, and Hichi got the feeling that he had asked a stupid question. Or, at least, a stupid question to whoever-the-hell-that-damn-woman-was. Finally, after a few more moments of laughing, Hichi got his answer.

"I am Zetsubo-bi. This is your inner world. The soul that you had been slumbering in has finally helped you gain enough strength to seperate, so I used my powers to pull you out." The woman, no, Zetsubo-bi, strided over to where the stunned hollow was standing, laid a smooth, warm, soft hand on the albino's cheek, and continued. "I am you, and you are me. I am your zanpakuto, and I am at your service, master." A sudden burst of energy moved through Zetsubo-bi's hand, and was transferred directly into the unprepared Hichigo's body.

Screaming in agony at the overwhelming pain brought on by to much reiatsu entering his system at once. Zetsubo-bi stared on, obviously pained by her master's agony, but she did nothing to stop her master's pain.

_You had better be right, Zangetsu_, she thought, _Or I'll have to kill Ichigo for you making me put Hichi through this shit._


	8. By Judgement Of The Gotei Thirteen

Mask: *Is somehow alive* Damn, I though that Grimmy would kill me.

Toshiro: *Runs into room* If anyone asks, I'm _not _here. Got it?

Mask: *Confused* Why?

Toshiro: Rangiku's throwing a costume party, and she's trying to dress me up as a cat.

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

The ten remaining captains of the Gotei Thrirteen were all gathered around a large meeting room. They were all there because the Sotaicho had announced an emergency meeting. None of the taichos, however, were expecting the lieutenants of Squads Three, Nine, Ten, and the third seat of Squad Six walk into the meeting room, dragging an unidentifiably white blob behind them.

"Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads!" Yamamoto said, drawing the nine other captain's attention towards him and away from the four Shinigami and one hollow, "A very perplexing situation has come up!"

"Excuse me, Head Captain," Captain Hitsugaya interjected, "But why are some of the lieutenants here?" The child-like captain ws obviously concerned as to why his fukutaicho was there.

"Does this have something to do with the mysterious spiritual pressure we felt earlier?" Byakuya added. To anyone that didn't know the outwardly-stotic man, he would appear to be completely bored and totally uncaring towards the situation, but Emeral had worked with the taicho enough to understand that his emotions were simply locked under a secure mask that almost nothing could breach.

Emeral could tell that something was bothering the black-haired male's mind, but Emeral wasn't quite sure what it could be. What Emeral did notice, however, is that his captain kept shooting small, practically unnotiable glances in the direction of Hitsugaya-taicho ever since the beginning of the meeting.

_Wonder what that could be about._ Emeral mused quickly before the Sotaicho answered the questions of both the Sixth and Tenth Division's Captains.

"The vice-captains of the Third, Ninth, and Tenth Divisions, along with the third seat of the Sixth Division, were patrolling around the Rukongai when they all noticed a sudden appearance of a hollow's spirit energy. They all gathered to investigate, and found a human-like hollow in the streets. Before they could engage it in combat, the hollow collapsed. Due to the odd circumstances of its appearance, the four brought the specimen back here. I have called you here so that we may decide what to do with it."

"Him," Emeral growled, and all of the captains turned to look at the greenette in confusion. Emeral huffed slightly, barely maintaining his emotion-less mask, and continued. "HE," Emeral made an exagerated motion towards the white form on the floor, "is the hollow. HIS name is Hichigo Shirosaki. And, if anyone tries to kill him, there will be many terrible consequences."

Byakuya took a closer look at the albino, and noticed how much he looked like Ichigo Kurosaki. Byakuya then turned to the Head Captain. "Head Captain Yamamoto, is the fact that this hollow looks like the ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki, the reason for you keeping him alive?"

Yamamoto made no reply. Truthfully, he had tried to kill it, him, when the albino began to release all of that spiritual pressure. One glare from Emeral had scared even the Head Captain. The greenette was like Unohana when she was angry, except worse.

Instead, Yamamoto asked, "We will now vote on the fate of," The Head Captain noticed Emeral staring intently at him, and instanly got the silent message, "Hichigo Shirosaki! All in favor of killing him?"

Only Soi-Fon and Mayuri raised their hands.

"All in favor of letting him live?"

Unohana, Byakuya, Komamura, Shunsui, Toshiro, Zaraki, and Ukitake all raised their hands at this point in time.

"It is decided then! Does anyone have any suggestions as to what we should do with him?"

Kurotsuchi and Unohana both raised their hands to offer their viewpoints. Mayuri was ignored, since everyone knew that the creeper only wanted to dissect the hollow, so Unohana spoke up to inform the other taichos on her plan.

"I believe that we should have Kurosaki Ichigo to come to the Seireitei and pick up his counterpart." The healer said sweetly, but no one was fooled. If they even considered refusing the proposition, they would all be in serious trouble.

Of course everyone, even the sulking Twelvth Division Captain, agreed to the only female taicho's plan.


	9. And So, Ichi Meets Hichi

Toshiro: *Annnoyed* You're still typing this?

Mask: Yeah! I have horny semes demanding that I start lemons ASAP. One of which is Byakuya.

Toshiro: *Blushes*

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

(THERE HAS BEEN AN UPDATE ON THE SUMMARY! PLEASE REFER BACK TO IT IF YOU WANNA KNOW THE NEW PLOT!)

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Ichigo and Rukia both stared in shock at the soul pager. There hadn't been a hollow attack in days, and the Soul Society hadn't contacted them since, well... They had never called for anything other than a hollow attack.

"Hello?" Rukia answered tentatively. All Ichigo could hear was faint mumbling, but whatever was said made his petite raven-haired companion pale couldn't help but wonder just what was said.

"Hey, what is it this time?" Ichigo growled as Rukia snapped the cellphone-like machine closed. The orangette always hated being kept in the dark for more than a few seconds.

"We, well, more specifically, YOU have to immediately leave for the Soul Society. They wouldn't say exactly what for, but I have a bad feeling about this." Ichigo shrugged at his friends warning.

If only he had paid more attention to the woman's intuition.

* * *

"Oi! Ichigo!" The aforementioned teen turned slighlty and noticed a red-haired guy with wild tattooes trotting towards him and Rukia.

"What's up Renji?" Ichigo said, raising his head in greeting, "Do you know why I was called here?"

"Nah." The pineapple replied, shaking his head. "The higher ups won't say a thing, and the only ones besides the captains that seem to know anything are Rangiku, Shuuhei, Kira, and the third seat of my division. But, even those guys aren't talking. Although, rumor has it that they may have told Yumichika. But Yumi denies it, so no ones really sure what's happening."

"Frickin' useless pineapple." Ichigo mumbled. A large red tick mark appeared above Renji's brow.

"Wanna say that again, ya damn strawberry?!" Renji snapped. At that point, the two idiotic males were face to face, and were having a small (war-zone) glaring contest. That is, until Rukia stepped inbetween them.

"Are we going to go find out what happened or not?!" The raven growled. Both males cringed away from the angry, demon-like girl. They then all turned and headed towards the First Division's Headquarters.

* * *

What awaited them was not what they had expected.

"I don't see why I can't just do one quick experiment on him." Was the first thing the group heard as they neared the door to the captain's meeting room. They all guessed that those words were courtasy of Kurotsuchi.

"I already told you that you CAN'T dissect him." That sounded like Kenpachi Zaraki.

"And why not?" The three shared a look. The convesation that they were evesdropping on was not very encouraging.

"Touch him and die." A new voice joined in. Renji, knowing that new voice quite well, took that as his que to open the large double-doors. A multitude of people all turned to look at the newcomers.

Captain Mayuri Kurotsuichi had clearly been arguing with Kenpachi Zaraki, and a greenette was to busy glaring at the Taicho of Squad Twelve to pay attention to the trio. The other captains looked as if they had been about to intervine in the arguement, and Rangiku, Shuuhei, Kira, Yumichika, and the green-haired male that Ichigo and Rukia didn't know appeared to be guarding a white lump on the floor. Upon closer inspection, however, Rukia, Ichigo, and Renji all noticed that it was a person.

"You're late." An irritate huff from the youngest taicho snapped the three out of their thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. So, why am I here, again?" Ichigo said absentmindedly, still focused of the - was that dude albino? There is no way he could be so friggin' pale otherwise - being practically hidden behind Kira, Shuuhei, Yumichika, Rangiku, and the mystery guy.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, we have taken in someone that we believe that you would be better off handling. Should you agree to letting him stay with you, we must demand that you get proper training for him to control his powers." Old Man Yamamoto said. Ichigo blinked and took his eyes off of the albino for a few seconds to look at the Captain Commander.

"Okay."

_Damn, I never though that he'd give in that easily! _Several of the people in the room though, some of which sweatdropped slightly. Just then, a groan came from the now-awake albino, who quickly sat up, rubbing his eyes to make himself stay awake.

Ichigo's eyes widened considerably in astonishment. There, surrounded by Shinigami, was the hollow-like being he had fought with in order to learn Getsuga Tensho.

"There is one more condition that we must address, Kurosaki Ichigo." Genryusai Yamamoto announced, snapping the strawberry out of his temperary stupor. "The five over there," The Head Captain gestured to the people... were they guarding the hollow from Mayuri? "Along with Captain Hitsugaya of the Tenth Division shall occompany you back to the World of the Living, and stay there until Hichigo Shirosaki has been trained to control his powers."

"Hichigo Shirosaki?" Ichigo asked, blinking. _Who the hell is that? _The strawberry asked himself.

"Hichigo is the albino behind me, dumbass." The greenette spat.

"...What's your name?" Was all Ichigo could say to the greenette. Renji and Rukia facepalmed.

The greenette pulled a (metaphorically) emotionless mask over his face. "My name is Emeral Masque, and I am the third seat of Squad Six."

"Oh." Ichigo said, and then he turned to Renji. "So, since you work with him, do you know who shoved that stick up his ass?" Almost everyone in the room famepalmed, sweatdropped, or did a combanation of the two.

* * *

Mask: *Worried* ...Was that OOC?

Toshiro: Review and tell us if it was.


	10. Kisuke Asks Shinji A Favor

Hichigo: *Is bored* Heeeyyyy! Aren't you done with this thing?

Mask: Nope. If things keep going at the pace they're suppose to, then there should be atleast twenty chapters, probably more.

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

"Training, you say?" Urahara asked, pondering a solution to the situation his once-pupil got himself into.

"Yeah. Will you do it?" Ichigo asked. Since Mr. Hat-and-Clogs had trained him, then he should be good enough at training Hichigo, right?

Hichigo Shirosaki, who had once been living inside of the strawberry's soul, was now living in a gigai at the Kurosaki clan's residence. To anyone not involved in the sudden appearance of the hollow, the entire thing was rather comical. The albino went from being a overgrown, innocent, clueless child (they had all learned from Rangiku that he didn't even know what boobs are), to a sanity-deprived, clueless killing machine (when he became like that, they normally just made that evil midget Emeral hold him down long enough for Shuuhei or Kira or both to bind him with kido).

Also, there were the hollow's eating habits to deal with. The first day of coming back from the Seireitei was used to teach the hollow how to eat (it went along quite nicely with the sob story Ichigo fed his family. Hichigo is a friend of Ichi's, but he got a small dose of amnesia, and his parents are outta town). Afterwards, the hollow decided that he would eat when he felt hungry, and he pretty much ignored regular meal-times. Unless, of course, if Orihime was cooking. Then, for some reason, he always got hungry.

Currently, Hichi was staying at Orihime's house with Rangiku and Toshiro while Ichigo tried to convince Kisuke to train the albino. The strawberry hoped that Urahara agreed, since he was, after all, the only person that Ichigo knew that could deal with the hollow.

"Well," Kisuke started, forcing Ichi to stop pondering in order to listen, "I don't think that I'd be the right person to do this." Ichigo's hope just died. "However," And his hope was then reborn. " I may know someone who would love to have me owe them a favor. I think that I could work something out with them." The blonde shopkeeper informed his student.

"Well, do it quick! I don't know how much longer I can deal with everyone's mood swings!" The teen complained. Kisuke chuckled as Ichigo stomped out the door, probably to insure that his house wasn't in ruins.

"If only you knew just how nice those 'mood swings' are compared to how my acquaintances' tempers." The blonde said, shaking his head slightly in mirth.

* * *

Kisuke Urahara slid into a booth in an old, run-down bar. He had managed to get his... 'friend' to come here so that they could reach an agreement on training Hichigo Shirosaki.

_All I'll probably have to do is mention the fact that Hichigo could tip the scales in our favor for the Winter War. _The blonde mused. Before he could ponder the thought further, another blonde slid into the seat opposite of the shopkeeper.

"Well, Kisuke, it's been a long time, now hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has been quite a while, Shinji. The last few decades have been good, I hope." Kisuke replied pleasantly. All Shinji did was stare him down from across the table. Kisuke sighed, getting the silent message to just spill why he wanted to meet the Vizard.

"There's... something that I was hoping that you could do for me." The shopkeeper started. Shinji gave the younger ex-taicho his signature grin.

"So, does that mean that you would owe me?"

"... Yes..." Urahara said warily.

"Good. I hope that you remember what starts within the next few weeks then." Shinji smirked triumphantly. Kisuke paled considerably, having not expected that particular request.

Biting his lip in consideration, Urahara weighed the pros and cons of the agreement. Finally, he sighed. "Alright, but you have to train these kids pretty damn good." The shopkeeper mumbled.

_Why did he have to choose _THAT _as the favor? No, he's probably just messing with my head. But, if he's not, then I am literally screwed. _The paler blonde was glad that he had his customary fan covering his face, hopefully hiding his blush from the taller male across the table from him.

"It's a deal, then!" The shopkeeper was disappointed to hear the slight tremble in his voice, but he seemed to have hidden the slip-up well enough for Shinji to not notice.

"I'll expect the kids over at 7 o'clock tommorow morning. All of them. We need to make sure that all us fighting against Aizen are storng enough for the job. You might wanna give them a warning about our... abilities before they show up. If not," The older blonde smirked, "Then they're in for quite a shock."

Urahara nodded, and stood up to leave. Before he could begin to walk away, however, a marginally larger hand grabbed his own smaller, paler one.

"Kisuke," Shinji whispered into the shopkeeper's ear, cause an involuntary shudder that Urahara could barely supress, "I'm counting on you to keep your end of the deal, got it? No chickening out on me like ya did a century ago."

"I know."

"Good."


	11. The Shinigami Meet The Vizards

Hichigo: *Is bored* Heeeyyyy! Aren't you done with this thing?

Mask: Nope. If things keep going at the pace they're suppose to, then there should be atleast twenty chapters, probably more. BTW, I couldn't update for awhile 'cause my friggin' dinosaur computer was broken. *Pouts at moniter*

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

"... Are you sure that this is the place?" Toshiro couldn't help but ask. He did another quick survey of the area, hoping to see something other than the run-down warehouses, heaps of trash, and mountains rubble. Kira check ed directions once more, and nodded.

"Yes sir, the instructions specifically stated what we had to do, and I made sure to follow them to the point."

"If this is a joke, how about we all just go back and beat up Hat-and-Clogs guy?" Ichigo suggested. Everyone agreed, since it took ever ounce of concentration to stop Hichigo from running off. Actually, even with seven sets of careful eyes, the albino had managed to run off once.

He had destroyed a building, three cars, and had managed to reduce a concrete wall to rubble in two minutes. When the worried group found him, he made it evident that he had done all of that to chase a butterfly.

A very pretty butterfly, according to the albino. It took Ichigo, Kira, Shuuhei, Yumichika, Rangiku, and Emeral to stop Toshiro from decapatating Hichigo.

Back on topic. The group had somehow managed to make it to their 'destination' without anyone dying. Now, if only there was some way for them to know if they had wandered into the right place.

"Well, well. Looks like some Shinigami managed to find there way here." Everyone but Ichigo and Hichigo put their hand on the handle of their zanpakuto (Hichi would have, had he understood WTF was going on, and Ichi was just to lazy to be prepared for an attack).

"What do ya want?" Ichigo asked in a bored tone. A growl resounded throught the area before another voice started to speak.

"We want you idiots to leave before we have ta kill you!" This voice sounded more like a female compared to the other voice. Emeral, for no apparent reason, let his hand slide away from his zanpakuto's hilt, and turned towards the largest warehouse. As he started to walk towards it, Hichigo noticed the greenette and, being bored, decided to follow him.

Meanwhile, the two voices had started to fight. "What do you think you're doing, Hiyori? We're suppose ta be training them, not trying to murder 'em!"

"Oh, be quiet Shinji! It's not like they're going ta make any difference in the war! And besides, if they get to strong, then they'll kill Aizen instead of us getting our revenge!"

By then, the rest of the Shinigami noticed the absence of Emeral and Hichigo.

"Shit, where could Hichi have gone to this time?!" Ichigo groaned, clearly distressed by the abscence of his hollow.

"And Emy-chan's gone, too!" Rangiku pouted. A crash came from the largest warehouse at that point in time. The Soul Reapers shared a glance. A crash that loud could only be the work of two people.

"Oi, where the hell do ya think you're goin'?!" Hiyori, as the other voice called her, screamed.

""Sorry, but we're kinda busy at the moment!" Ichigo hollered back. The group was closing in on the largest warehouse.

Only to be stopped in thier trachs by a pissed-off looking blonde chick in a red track suit.

"Listen here!" The girl, whom the Death Gods identified as Hiyori, screamed, "If any of you take one step closer, I'll...!" She was cut by a different, male blonde.

"Now, now Hiyori. We promised Kisuke to train them. That means that we aren't allowed to kill them. Yet."

A red tick mark appeared above Ichigo's face. "What the hell do you mean by 'yet'?!" The strawberry demanded.

Another carsh was heard from inside the warehouse. Now, even Hiyori and Shinji, as they called one another, appeared worried. The two blonde strangers headed towards the warehouse, with the Shinigami following close behind.

* * *

What they saw was unexpected. Emeral was currently engaged in a game of poker with chick in a sailor outfit, and Hichigo was tossing a ball to a green-haired female in a white jumpsuit.

However, the albino and jumpsuit-chick were throwing the ball at about one-hundred miles per hour, and they had evidently forgotten to aim a few times, since there was a lamp and a vase laying, broken into several dozen pieces, on the floor.

"HICHIGO!" Ichigo shouted, angry at his hollow for running off again. The albino turned to look at his King, and, in that same instant, he threw the inflatiable sphere back at the green-haired girl.

The girl, instead of catching the poorly aimed toy, ducked, and the sphere flew towards the open doorway...

Just in time to hit a white-haired, well-muscled male wearing a tanktop and cargo pant in the face.

Hichigo, the green-haired girl, Shinji and Hiyori all burst out laughing. Emeral and the brunette in the skimpy sailor costume both looked up briefly, but they quickly went back to their card game.

Shuuhei, meanwhile, was able to put two and two together (what a mathamatician!) and figure out who the white-haired male was.

"Kensei Muguruma-taicho..." He said in shock, causing his fellow Soul Reapers to stare at him in question. Hiyori, Shinji, and the rest of the strangers in the room all turned to Shuuhei with a new-found wariness.

"How the hell," The white-haired male started angrily, "Do you fuckin' know my name?"


	12. And So, The Training Commences

Mask: *Grins* Okay kids, this chapter focuses more on Kensei and Shuuhei. There will be some training going on too, so I'll discover if I'm good at writing fight scenes!

Grimmjow: NO ONE FUCKIN' CARES!

Ulquiorra: Shut up, kitty-cat.

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

Shuuhei seemed nervous under the pressure of his idol's glare, so Emeral made a quick interjection to help his friend out.

"Oh. So this is the guy that saved you from that hollow when you were a kid. Though, with his attitude, I have no idea as to why you'd insist on being in the Ninth. If he had still been captain when you got there, I wonder what might have happened." The male greenette said in an offhand kind of way.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Hiyori growled. Kensei, meanwhile, was inspecting the suddenly shy blackette's features. His eyes were automatically drawn to the '69' tattoo on the kid's face.

"What's your name, kid?" Kensei demanded. Shuuhei bit his lip before replying.

"Hisagi. Hisagi Shuuhei." He said quietly. Kensei racked his brain for a memory of the kid, but he couldn't find one.

While Kensei was stuck trying to figure out the identity of the blackette, Hiyori turned to the girl in the sailor uniform and the female greenette, and began to yell at them.

"Oi, Lisa, what the hell were you two thinking, letting those fruity bastards," The short girl gestured wildly towards Hichigo and Emeral, "Come in here?!" Lisa shrugged.

"They came in, and Mashiro started fawning over them. This one just walked up to me and said 'You. Me. Poker. Now.' I was to lazy to kick them out, so Mashiro and that albino started to play, and we started a poker game."

While Hiyori continued to rant at an unconcerned Lisa, Kensei finally gave up trying to remember who the blackette was. Kensei began walking forward until he was about a foot away from Shuuhei.

"Look, kid, I don't remember you. How do you know me, and when did you meet me?" Kensei asked, trying to remain calm. It was Yumichika who interrupted this time.

"I really don't think that this is the time for this nonsense. We are here to train, and the way you savages are wasting are time like this is very unbeautiful." The peacock huffed. Kira and Rangiku sweat-dropped.

_Trust Yumi to start thinking about fighting and beauty at a time like this. _They both thought to themselves.

"That's right." Ichigo said, having finally stopped scolding his hollow (who was now sulking in a corner), in a tone that indicated that he had forgotten their original purpose for coming to the insane asylu-... The author meant to say, warehouse.

And so, the strawberry turned to Shinji, who seemed to have the most authority over the others and, in his own blunt way, said, "So, how much longer do we have to wait until you start training him." Ichigo demanded, jerking a thumb in the general direction of the albino.

"Why don't we head to the training grounds, then, if you're so eager? We'll be practicing with all of you, though, to make sure that none of you are weak. After all, it won't do if a bunch of weaklings have to go up against Aizen and his cronies."

* * *

Ichigo stood, gaping in shock, at the enormous desert-like terrain that was just below the surface of the Earth. Hichigo, still acting like a child hyped-up on sugar, began running circles around Ichigo, laughing for some unknown reason. The rest of the Shinigami, minus Emeral (who had insisted on finishing his poker game with Lisa first) and Toshiro (who had to a short break outside, or he would have ended up strangling the insane albino), were currently attemping to find out what happened to the (former) Soul Reapers.

"Excuse me, but, if you were once a captain, then why are you here, in the World Of The Living?" Kira asked politely as possible. Three of the four ex-Death Gods tensed up, while Mashiro started to blabber.

"Oh! You didn't know? I guess that Kisuke wanted to keep it a secret, or something! About a hundred years ago...! Mhpff!" The female greenette began to rant, until Kensei decided to slap a hand over the overly-talkative girl's mouth.

"I think that it would be best if we showed them why." Kensei growled, before giving a pointed look to the Shinigami that they were to train. "Just remember, nothing you see happened to us because of our own consent. Everything is because of that bastard, Sosuke Aizen." The white-haired male surveyed the sea of nodding heads, and then pointed a finger at Shuuhei. "I'll test out your strength first, kid."

Face flushed slightly, the Ninth Squad's Lieutenant gave a small nod in agreement. Both of the soon-to-be-fighting men put some distance between themselves, and the spectators moved to a formation of boulders closer to the entrance. Kensei gave the younger Soul Raper a feral grin. "You might want to release your zanpakuto now, kid. Things will get real ugly real fast if you don't."

Biting his lip, Shuuhei gave his idol a firm shake of his head. "I'm sorry, Muguruma-sama (which he had been calling Kensei ever since the white-haired man had angrily told him to 'stop with the friggin' taicho, kid!'), but I cannot do that."

Kensei shrugged. "It's your death wish, kid." And, with that lovely statement, Kensei charged towards his prey, pulling out his Tachikaze from it's small sheath. Shuuhei, in return waited until the older man was within a few yards of his person before rolling off to the side, raising his Kazeshini on instinct to guard the oncoming blow from Kensei, as the white-haired male tried to get in a strike before jumping back and preparing another assualt.

Kensei grinned, loving how easy it was to toy with the blackette. _This should be fun._


	13. Training Continues

Mask: It's almost hollow mating season! I bet that some Vizards and Arrancar are getting real anxious.

Ulquiorra: *Confused* What is this... 'mating season' you speak of?

Mask: *Pats Ulquiorra on the head* You'll find out soon enough.

"Talking"

_Thoughts_

"**Hollow/ Zanpakuto"**

(Notices)

* * *

"Why doesn't he just release his friggin' shikai already." Emeral grumbled. He had finished the first poker game with Lisa, so the two had come to view the training. Even Toshiro, who had finally calmed down enough to not kill Hichigo, had come down to be a spectator in the training.

"You know why he doesn't like to, Emy-chan." Rangiku scolded. Though, truth be told, she was also wondering when their mutual friend would stop being so stubborn. Kensei was simply playing with Shuuhei, and even the blackette himself had noticed. Everyone knew that what the white-haired male was waiting on was for Shuuhei to release Kazeshini.

Shuuhei dodged yet another strike from his idol, and finally had enough. _There's no way I could beat him, even if I did use Kazeshini. Still, right now, he's only playing with me. If I don't do something quick, he might just get sick of this, label me useless, and send me back to the Soul Society! _Shuuhei didn't exactly like that thought, and used his superior (despite the fact that his opponent was once a captain) speed and agility to put some distance between himself and his idol.

"Kare, Kazeshini." The Ninth's Lieutenant reluctantly said solemnly, grimancing at the thought of having to use his psycopathic zanpakuto. A small tornado whirled around the aforementioned Shinigami, which, just as quickly as it appeared, disappeared. The dying winds revealed Shuuhei, with, instead of his regular katana, two large, scythe-like weapons connected by a black chain.

Everyone who had never seen the Ninth Lieutenant's shikai were shocked by the shape of it. As Shuuhei launched himself at his idol, finally taking the offensive, Shinji spoke.

"I was expecting something less... lethal." He admitted. Kira shrugged.

"So was I. Shuuhei doesn't like using his shikai, since he hates to kill. But, his zanpukto, Kazeshini, more or less symbolizes all of his negative emotions."

"Interesting." Shinji said, thinking about that which made Kensei fear his own power.

* * *

Another hour or so had passed, with the battle between the white-haired male and the blackette still raging on. The two had been switching between offense and defense the entire time, even though it was obvious that Kensei was going easy on his former division's lieutenant. Emeral and Lisa had gotten sick of poker, and were currently playing 'Go Fish'.

Toshiro, getting more impatient with each passing second, finally snapped. "How much longer will this take?!" The chibi-captain demanded.

"Now, now, captain," Rangiku reprimanded, "be patient." Toshiro's retort was cut by Hiyori shouting at Kensei.

"Oi, you bastard, how much longer are you going to wait to use your mask?!" The angry blonde midget hollered. Kensei mysteriousy acquired a red tick above his left eye at that time.

Dodging an attack from Shuuhei's scythe-like weapon, the white-haired male put some distance between himself and his opponent. Shuuhei warily took a defensive stance, in an attempt to be ready for whatever move Kensei decided to use.

"If me waiting upsets you so much," Kensei snarled in Hiyori's direction, "Then why don't I just use it now?" Not bothering to wait for a reply, Kensei put his left hand over his right eye in a claw-like position. Slowly, he drew his hand over his face in an diagnol line. Shuuhei watched, fascinated, as a hollow mask appeared over his idol's face.

The rest of the Shinigami, minus Ichigo and Hichigo, were confused. Even Emeral allowed the confusion to show on his face.

Shinji grinned at their expessions, inwardly happy that they weren't running off to tell the Head Captain/ "I take it that Kisuke forgot to tell you about this little... ability of ours?"

"What are you talking about? Can't every Soul Reaper do that?" Ichigo asked, not quite understanding why everyone seemed so confused over the mask on Kensei face.

"Over course not." Yumichika huffed in annoyance. "Only hollows are suppose to have masks like that."

Ichigo still didn't understand. "But a mask like that on my face when I was fighting Byakuya on Sokyoku Hill."

Shinji grinned once again. "I guess that means you're a Vizard, like us."


End file.
